IGas has responded to a motion passed at the Welsh Assembly this week stating the Welsh Government’s opposition to shale gas extraction, declaring “they have no power to stop fracking!”

The motion calling for a fracking moratorium was tabled by Plaid Cymru, and passed with the support of Welsh Labour Assembly Members by a large margin: 37 for and 16 against. 

Despite the cross party backing, the Welsh Government has yet to take action. Labour’s economy minister Edwina Hart, who backed the Plaid motion calling for a moratorium, has turned down calls for planning advice on fracking to be updated.

But insiders have indicated that the First Minster, Carwyn Jones, is currently seeking legal advice on what powers the Welsh Government has to effectively place a moratorium on fracking.

The UK Government currently has control over shale gas licensing but the Welsh Government has responsibility, in theory, for any related planning applications. But any appeals against refusals are judged by the London-based Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.

And as IGas helpfully points out, these devolved planning powers render the Welsh Government helpless in protecting Welsh communities against any unwanted developments.

IGas: ‘we’re going ahead anyway’

The original IGas application to carry out test drilling at a site in Borras, near Wrexham was rejected by the democratically elected councillors on the local authority. The company then appealed against the decision, which went to the Westminster-controlled Planning Inspectorate, which overturned the earlier refusal.

An IGas spokesman told the Daily Post: “Nothing has changed in our plans to test drill for underground gas in Wrexham, which we will be continuing with.

“And if we were to put in a planning application in the future, which is rejected by Wrexham council, the appeal would go to the Welsh Secretary, which comes under Westminster, not the Welsh Government.

“The decision by the Welsh Government was not a moratorium. They can refuse applications on planning grounds, but they have no power to stop fracking.”

As Sion Chavez, editor of Daily Wales, points out, “It’s a situation which highlights the absurd consequences of having one country administered by a neighbouring country.”

“Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own completely separate Planning Inspectorates which allow their own governments to oversee any appeals. But in the case of Wales, it’s the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.”

The SNP controlled Scottish Government has recently used its control over planning to announce an immediate moratorium on all fracking applications.

Welsh Government must be firm

Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, commented: “As soon as this legal advice is available, it needs to be published so that all the people of Wales can know where we stand on this problem.

“If a moratorium is within the Welsh Government’s powers then it just needs to get on and make it happen. If a ban isn’t possible, two things need to happen straight away. The first is that any powers restricting Wales’ ability to protect its communities should be devolved immediately.

“The second is that until those powers are devolved the Welsh Government must issue a Planning Policy Statement with a presumption against the development of unconventional oil and gas onshore in Wales.

“Anything other than these steps will suggest that the Welsh Government was being duplicitous through voting in favour of doing everything in its power to prevent fracking in Wales, but failing to take the action needed to deliver on its promise.”

Among other clauses, the successful motion calling for a fracking moratorium “Believes that energy should be fully devolved to the National Assembly for Wales and that the Welsh Government should have the power to block fracking.”

It further “Calls on the Welsh Government to do everything within its power to prevent fracking from taking place in Wales until it is proven to be safe in both an environmental and public health context.”

Principal source:  original articles published by Daily Wales.

Last week a lobster fishery in the Kattegat, the area of sea between northern Denmark and Sweden, is the proud recipient of a ‘sustainable fishing’ certificate through the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

But only four months ago Citizen Inspectors of The Black Fish (TBF) – an Amsterdam-based environmental group dedicated to preventing illegal overfishing in European seas – observed fishermen illegally targetting protected cod stocks in the exact same fishery – and has the photographic and video evidence to prove it.

But the MSC has decided to disregard the evidence of illegal activity, prompting Wietse van der Werf, TBF’s International Director, to comment:

“Sustainability labels mean very little if certifiers are not digging deeper to find out what is really happening in fisheries. Surprise inspections and undercover investigators would be a good start.”

The evidence collected by TBF’s Citizen Inspectors will not be made public, pending its use in possible legal action, adds van der Werf: “We will continue to build on our findings as with more evidence we stand a stronger case.”

Good lobster, bad cod

The ‘sustainable’ fishery targets Norwegian lobster (also known as nephrops) with trawlers. But the Kattegat also contains important spawning areas for cod, which has been heavily overfished in the area over recent decades.

So the area contains two fisheries: a sustainable lobster fishery, and a very unsustainable cod fishery. Complicating the picture, Kattegat trawlers often catch the lobster and cod together in the same net, continuing the negative impacts on the troubled fish.

To protect the cod, while allowing the lobster fishery to continue, the Swedish authorities imposed new rules requiring fishers to fit specially designed grids in their trawl nets that create openings that adult cod caught up in the net can escape through, while retaining the lobsters.

But as one as of TBF’s Citizens Inspectors explains: “During the inspections we found multiple steel grids which weren’t properly attached to the trawl nets, allowing for an opening to be created underneath the grid, so cod could be caught.

“One net even used chains as weights to open up the net further, making the fitted grid totally useless. On another occasion we observed fishers re-attaching their nets upon return to the port, presumably for the net to meet the requirements during a possible inspection by fisheries officials.”

But the lobster will continue to carry the MSC label

In spite of the evidence of illegal ‘black’ cod fishing in the Kategat, products from the nephrops fishery will now bear the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label for ‘sustainable fisheries’.

TBF notified the MSC about its findings but learned that the formal assessment period for the fisheries had already passed, so it was too late for their evidence to be taken into account.

Annual surveillance audits are carried out by the certification body but according to van der Werf, “we fear that these will yield little result in uncovering illegal activities, in part because they are publicly announced before they take place.”

By contrast, TBF’s Citizen Inspector Network carried out over 100 inspections in Swedish fishing ports last August, identifying numerous trawl nets illegally modified to prevent the cod’s escape.

Help: The Black Fish appeals to anyone who might have further information about illegal activities in the Swedish nephrop fishery to come forward. Our legal team can be contacted at legal@theblackfish.org.

Source: The Black Fish.

The Black Fish is an international organisation that works to end illegal overfishing. Our approach brings together people and the benefits of modern technology to protect the oceans through enforcement of environmental regulations. The Black Fish currently runs 28 projects in 12 countries around Europe, with an international team of 30 staff, countless volunteers and supporters around the world.

IGas has responded to a motion passed at the Welsh Assembly this week stating the Welsh Government’s opposition to shale gas extraction, declaring “they have no power to stop fracking!”

The motion calling for a fracking moratorium was tabled by Plaid Cymru, and passed with the support of Welsh Labour Assembly Members by a large margin: 37 for and 16 against. 

Despite the cross party backing, the Welsh Government has yet to take action. Labour’s economy minister Edwina Hart, who backed the Plaid motion calling for a moratorium, has turned down calls for planning advice on fracking to be updated.

But insiders have indicated that the First Minster, Carwyn Jones, is currently seeking legal advice on what powers the Welsh Government has to effectively place a moratorium on fracking.

The UK Government currently has control over shale gas licensing but the Welsh Government has responsibility, in theory, for any related planning applications. But any appeals against refusals are judged by the London-based Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.

And as IGas helpfully points out, these devolved planning powers render the Welsh Government helpless in protecting Welsh communities against any unwanted developments.

IGas: ‘we’re going ahead anyway’

The original IGas application to carry out test drilling at a site in Borras, near Wrexham was rejected by the democratically elected councillors on the local authority. The company then appealed against the decision, which went to the Westminster-controlled Planning Inspectorate, which overturned the earlier refusal.

An IGas spokesman told the Daily Post: “Nothing has changed in our plans to test drill for underground gas in Wrexham, which we will be continuing with.

“And if we were to put in a planning application in the future, which is rejected by Wrexham council, the appeal would go to the Welsh Secretary, which comes under Westminster, not the Welsh Government.

“The decision by the Welsh Government was not a moratorium. They can refuse applications on planning grounds, but they have no power to stop fracking.”

As Sion Chavez, editor of Daily Wales, points out, “It’s a situation which highlights the absurd consequences of having one country administered by a neighbouring country.”

“Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own completely separate Planning Inspectorates which allow their own governments to oversee any appeals. But in the case of Wales, it’s the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.”

The SNP controlled Scottish Government has recently used its control over planning to announce an immediate moratorium on all fracking applications.

Welsh Government must be firm

Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, commented: “As soon as this legal advice is available, it needs to be published so that all the people of Wales can know where we stand on this problem.

“If a moratorium is within the Welsh Government’s powers then it just needs to get on and make it happen. If a ban isn’t possible, two things need to happen straight away. The first is that any powers restricting Wales’ ability to protect its communities should be devolved immediately.

“The second is that until those powers are devolved the Welsh Government must issue a Planning Policy Statement with a presumption against the development of unconventional oil and gas onshore in Wales.

“Anything other than these steps will suggest that the Welsh Government was being duplicitous through voting in favour of doing everything in its power to prevent fracking in Wales, but failing to take the action needed to deliver on its promise.”

Among other clauses, the successful motion calling for a fracking moratorium “Believes that energy should be fully devolved to the National Assembly for Wales and that the Welsh Government should have the power to block fracking.”

It further “Calls on the Welsh Government to do everything within its power to prevent fracking from taking place in Wales until it is proven to be safe in both an environmental and public health context.”

Principal source:  original articles published by Daily Wales.

Last week a lobster fishery in the Kattegat, the area of sea between northern Denmark and Sweden, is the proud recipient of a ‘sustainable fishing’ certificate through the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

But only four months ago Citizen Inspectors of The Black Fish (TBF) – an Amsterdam-based environmental group dedicated to preventing illegal overfishing in European seas – observed fishermen illegally targetting protected cod stocks in the exact same fishery – and has the photographic and video evidence to prove it.

But the MSC has decided to disregard the evidence of illegal activity, prompting Wietse van der Werf, TBF’s International Director, to comment:

“Sustainability labels mean very little if certifiers are not digging deeper to find out what is really happening in fisheries. Surprise inspections and undercover investigators would be a good start.”

The evidence collected by TBF’s Citizen Inspectors will not be made public, pending its use in possible legal action, adds van der Werf: “We will continue to build on our findings as with more evidence we stand a stronger case.”

Good lobster, bad cod

The ‘sustainable’ fishery targets Norwegian lobster (also known as nephrops) with trawlers. But the Kattegat also contains important spawning areas for cod, which has been heavily overfished in the area over recent decades.

So the area contains two fisheries: a sustainable lobster fishery, and a very unsustainable cod fishery. Complicating the picture, Kattegat trawlers often catch the lobster and cod together in the same net, continuing the negative impacts on the troubled fish.

To protect the cod, while allowing the lobster fishery to continue, the Swedish authorities imposed new rules requiring fishers to fit specially designed grids in their trawl nets that create openings that adult cod caught up in the net can escape through, while retaining the lobsters.

But as one as of TBF’s Citizens Inspectors explains: “During the inspections we found multiple steel grids which weren’t properly attached to the trawl nets, allowing for an opening to be created underneath the grid, so cod could be caught.

“One net even used chains as weights to open up the net further, making the fitted grid totally useless. On another occasion we observed fishers re-attaching their nets upon return to the port, presumably for the net to meet the requirements during a possible inspection by fisheries officials.”

But the lobster will continue to carry the MSC label

In spite of the evidence of illegal ‘black’ cod fishing in the Kategat, products from the nephrops fishery will now bear the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label for ‘sustainable fisheries’.

TBF notified the MSC about its findings but learned that the formal assessment period for the fisheries had already passed, so it was too late for their evidence to be taken into account.

Annual surveillance audits are carried out by the certification body but according to van der Werf, “we fear that these will yield little result in uncovering illegal activities, in part because they are publicly announced before they take place.”

By contrast, TBF’s Citizen Inspector Network carried out over 100 inspections in Swedish fishing ports last August, identifying numerous trawl nets illegally modified to prevent the cod’s escape.

Help: The Black Fish appeals to anyone who might have further information about illegal activities in the Swedish nephrop fishery to come forward. Our legal team can be contacted at legal@theblackfish.org.

Source: The Black Fish.

The Black Fish is an international organisation that works to end illegal overfishing. Our approach brings together people and the benefits of modern technology to protect the oceans through enforcement of environmental regulations. The Black Fish currently runs 28 projects in 12 countries around Europe, with an international team of 30 staff, countless volunteers and supporters around the world.

IGas has responded to a motion passed at the Welsh Assembly this week stating the Welsh Government’s opposition to shale gas extraction, declaring “they have no power to stop fracking!”

The motion calling for a fracking moratorium was tabled by Plaid Cymru, and passed with the support of Welsh Labour Assembly Members by a large margin: 37 for and 16 against. 

Despite the cross party backing, the Welsh Government has yet to take action. Labour’s economy minister Edwina Hart, who backed the Plaid motion calling for a moratorium, has turned down calls for planning advice on fracking to be updated.

But insiders have indicated that the First Minster, Carwyn Jones, is currently seeking legal advice on what powers the Welsh Government has to effectively place a moratorium on fracking.

The UK Government currently has control over shale gas licensing but the Welsh Government has responsibility, in theory, for any related planning applications. But any appeals against refusals are judged by the London-based Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.

And as IGas helpfully points out, these devolved planning powers render the Welsh Government helpless in protecting Welsh communities against any unwanted developments.

IGas: ‘we’re going ahead anyway’

The original IGas application to carry out test drilling at a site in Borras, near Wrexham was rejected by the democratically elected councillors on the local authority. The company then appealed against the decision, which went to the Westminster-controlled Planning Inspectorate, which overturned the earlier refusal.

An IGas spokesman told the Daily Post: “Nothing has changed in our plans to test drill for underground gas in Wrexham, which we will be continuing with.

“And if we were to put in a planning application in the future, which is rejected by Wrexham council, the appeal would go to the Welsh Secretary, which comes under Westminster, not the Welsh Government.

“The decision by the Welsh Government was not a moratorium. They can refuse applications on planning grounds, but they have no power to stop fracking.”

As Sion Chavez, editor of Daily Wales, points out, “It’s a situation which highlights the absurd consequences of having one country administered by a neighbouring country.”

“Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own completely separate Planning Inspectorates which allow their own governments to oversee any appeals. But in the case of Wales, it’s the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.”

The SNP controlled Scottish Government has recently used its control over planning to announce an immediate moratorium on all fracking applications.

Welsh Government must be firm

Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, commented: “As soon as this legal advice is available, it needs to be published so that all the people of Wales can know where we stand on this problem.

“If a moratorium is within the Welsh Government’s powers then it just needs to get on and make it happen. If a ban isn’t possible, two things need to happen straight away. The first is that any powers restricting Wales’ ability to protect its communities should be devolved immediately.

“The second is that until those powers are devolved the Welsh Government must issue a Planning Policy Statement with a presumption against the development of unconventional oil and gas onshore in Wales.

“Anything other than these steps will suggest that the Welsh Government was being duplicitous through voting in favour of doing everything in its power to prevent fracking in Wales, but failing to take the action needed to deliver on its promise.”

Among other clauses, the successful motion calling for a fracking moratorium “Believes that energy should be fully devolved to the National Assembly for Wales and that the Welsh Government should have the power to block fracking.”

It further “Calls on the Welsh Government to do everything within its power to prevent fracking from taking place in Wales until it is proven to be safe in both an environmental and public health context.”

Principal source:  original articles published by Daily Wales.

Last week a lobster fishery in the Kattegat, the area of sea between northern Denmark and Sweden, is the proud recipient of a ‘sustainable fishing’ certificate through the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

But only four months ago Citizen Inspectors of The Black Fish (TBF) – an Amsterdam-based environmental group dedicated to preventing illegal overfishing in European seas – observed fishermen illegally targetting protected cod stocks in the exact same fishery – and has the photographic and video evidence to prove it.

But the MSC has decided to disregard the evidence of illegal activity, prompting Wietse van der Werf, TBF’s International Director, to comment:

“Sustainability labels mean very little if certifiers are not digging deeper to find out what is really happening in fisheries. Surprise inspections and undercover investigators would be a good start.”

The evidence collected by TBF’s Citizen Inspectors will not be made public, pending its use in possible legal action, adds van der Werf: “We will continue to build on our findings as with more evidence we stand a stronger case.”

Good lobster, bad cod

The ‘sustainable’ fishery targets Norwegian lobster (also known as nephrops) with trawlers. But the Kattegat also contains important spawning areas for cod, which has been heavily overfished in the area over recent decades.

So the area contains two fisheries: a sustainable lobster fishery, and a very unsustainable cod fishery. Complicating the picture, Kattegat trawlers often catch the lobster and cod together in the same net, continuing the negative impacts on the troubled fish.

To protect the cod, while allowing the lobster fishery to continue, the Swedish authorities imposed new rules requiring fishers to fit specially designed grids in their trawl nets that create openings that adult cod caught up in the net can escape through, while retaining the lobsters.

But as one as of TBF’s Citizens Inspectors explains: “During the inspections we found multiple steel grids which weren’t properly attached to the trawl nets, allowing for an opening to be created underneath the grid, so cod could be caught.

“One net even used chains as weights to open up the net further, making the fitted grid totally useless. On another occasion we observed fishers re-attaching their nets upon return to the port, presumably for the net to meet the requirements during a possible inspection by fisheries officials.”

But the lobster will continue to carry the MSC label

In spite of the evidence of illegal ‘black’ cod fishing in the Kategat, products from the nephrops fishery will now bear the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label for ‘sustainable fisheries’.

TBF notified the MSC about its findings but learned that the formal assessment period for the fisheries had already passed, so it was too late for their evidence to be taken into account.

Annual surveillance audits are carried out by the certification body but according to van der Werf, “we fear that these will yield little result in uncovering illegal activities, in part because they are publicly announced before they take place.”

By contrast, TBF’s Citizen Inspector Network carried out over 100 inspections in Swedish fishing ports last August, identifying numerous trawl nets illegally modified to prevent the cod’s escape.

Help: The Black Fish appeals to anyone who might have further information about illegal activities in the Swedish nephrop fishery to come forward. Our legal team can be contacted at legal@theblackfish.org.

Source: The Black Fish.

The Black Fish is an international organisation that works to end illegal overfishing. Our approach brings together people and the benefits of modern technology to protect the oceans through enforcement of environmental regulations. The Black Fish currently runs 28 projects in 12 countries around Europe, with an international team of 30 staff, countless volunteers and supporters around the world.

My mother died recently and at the funeral home I was asked if I had any ideas what kind of coffin she would like. For some reason I said something environmentally friendly.

These words came out of my mouth more out of nervousness than anything previously discussed with my mother. Duly the undertaker showed us a catalogue of wicker coffins and we chose one made of banana leaves.

I often think of my carbon footprint – I have not owned a car in more than 15 years, for example – but I had never thought about my ‘green obligations’ in death.

My mother may not have requested an environmentally friendly coffin, but she did state she wished to be cremated. Due to the lack of space in the UK around 80% of people request cremation – and if we think about green space being at a premium this makes ecological sense.

But cremation has its downsides

However the energy required to cremate a single person is equal to the energy they would use in a month if they were alive. In the UK this translates to a yearly energy consumption of a town of 16,000 people. In Asian countries where cremation is very popular there is considerable interest in using solar power to reduce such energy consumption.

Another problem with cremation is air pollution, which obviously depends on the filtering system being employed. Until recent times cremations were one of the major sources of mercury pollution in the UK due to the amalgam fillings in people’s teeth.

A group of environmental NGOs recently called on the EU to curb mercury emissions from human cremation. Furthermore, the clothes worn and use of embalming fluids may also increase air pollution.

Humans have buried their dead for at least 100,000 years. Therefore, not wishing to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I looked into different burial options. A woodland burial initially appealed to me. However, I would only really approve of this if it resulted in the maintenance of a high-quality conservation area and wildlife refuge.

And I wonder if it became popular enough if it could result in major reforestation of the UK. But bodies would still be rotting in the ground releasing globally warming methane gas.

Surely, there must be greener options than a standard burial or cremation? Coming from a family of fishermen I thought about burial at sea, as the fish could recycle my body quickly. But there are only three registered places in the UK and only around 50 such burials per year.

As a biologist, I find the idea of becoming fish food strangely appealing. This is not a new idea: I remember reading of man who macabrely wished the meat from his body fed to the residents at Battersea Dogs Home. Not surprisingly this strange offer was declined.

Sky burial – very green, but would it be allowed?

As a conservationist the idea of recycling my body after death appeals: some Asian cultures have what are called sky burials, where a dead human body is laid out on a mountain top for scavenging animals such as birds of prey to feed on.

From a biological point of view I cannot see anything wrong with this, providing deceased people do not have contagious diseases. Burials in the ground are more to do with people not wishing the body disturbed by animals than hygiene considerations – hence being buried six feet.

Unfortunately, as much as I like to imagine my deceased body on the top of Ben Nevis being recycled by golden eagles, I can never see it being allowed in the UK.

I suppose what really appeals to me is being fully recycled in a short time-frame. The problem is that cremation does not fully recycle the body and burials can take years for the recycling process to occur.

Thus, if my body could be fully recycled quickly into the nutrient cycles, thereby allowing the burial plot to be constantly reused then I may have found a biologically acceptable method to dispose of my body when the time comes.

Fast composting ticks all the boxes – but it’s not yet on offer

A company in Sweden has tested a concept of eco-burial on dead pigs (pigs are good models for the human body), whereby the animal is frozen in liquid nitrogen at -196℃, which makes the body become brittle and disintegrate.

In the case of a human, the disintegrated body would be filtered for metals (such as tooth fillings) and then buried in a shallow grave.

In tests with pigs the remains become rich compost in six to twelve months. Plus this sort of eco-burial does not release greenhouse gases such as methane (from traditional burials) or carbon (from cremations) into the atmosphere. The only problem being it is still in development.

Robert John Young is Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Salford.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Government has reneged on its commitments to ban fracking near drinking water zones by amending the Infrastructure Bill at its final stage in the House of Lords today.

The change is contained in a sneaky loophole that most politicans entirely missed – but was spotted by an alert Friends of the Earth campaigner.

Most of the wording of Labour’s amendments, which prohibited fracking in national parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, ‘groundwater source protection areas’ and ‘areas of outstanding natural beauty’, remain in the current version of the Bill, Section 4A.

But instead of specifying the designations of the areas that fall under protection, the Government is leaving that to be set out in regulations by a Statutory Instrument to be issued by the Secretary of State before July 2015 – well after the general election, due in May.

This gives the Government the opportunity to weaken or fudge the definitions to the point where the protections become a dead letter – and it’s hard to see any other reason for legislating in this convoluted way.

Broken promises

Reacting to the Government’s late amendment, Friends of the Earth‘s Energy Campaigner Donna Hume, who first spotted the loophole, said: “The Government has U-Turned on its commitment to enforce regulatory conditions that would have introduced common sense measures to protect drinking water from controversial fracking.

“The Government seems determined to make fracking happen whatever the cost and people will be staggered that risky fracking will be allowed in areas that provide one third of our drinking water.

“Ministers must follow the lead of Wales, Scotland, France, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and New York State by putting a stop to fracking and instead focus on renewables and cutting energy waste.” 

In the Commons, the Government accepted the Labour Party amendment that banned fracking within groundwater source protection zones 1-3; the area around aquifers that safeguards drinking water. These collectively cover some 15% of the country – including many areas with potentially oil and gas bearing rock.

There’s only one answer now – defeat the Tories!

The ‘supplementary provisions’ in Section 4B specify that the Secretary of State must, in the statutory instrument, specify the descriptions of areas which are ‘protected groundwater source areas, and ‘other protected areas’ for the purposes of section 4A.

The statutory instrument will have to be laid before both the Commons and the Lords, and approved by a vote in each house. But if the Conservatives are re-elected with an overall majority in the May elections, they could in effect nullify the protections altogether.

Labour’s shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex stated last week that in return for the support of Labour MPs for the Infrastructure Bill as a whole, and for not pressing the demands for a fracking moratorium, demanded by the Environmental Audit Committee, the details of its amendment were not up for further negotiation:

“Let me make it absolutely clear that our new clause is all or nothing; it cannot be cherry-picked”, he said. “All the conditions need to be in place before we can be absolutely confident that any shale extraction can happen.”

But as the Bill will not return to the Commons, and the Conservatives enjoy an overall majority in the Lords, there is in fact nothing at all that Greatrex or his Labour colleagues can do about it.

So now we know – if the Tories win the election, we can expect ‘fracking everywhere’ – national parks, groundwater zones, nature sites, whatever. Nowhere will be safe.

Oliver Tickell edits The Ecologist.

IGas has responded to a motion passed at the Welsh Assembly this week stating the Welsh Government’s opposition to shale gas extraction, declaring “they have no power to stop fracking!”

The motion calling for a fracking moratorium was tabled by Plaid Cymru, and passed with the support of Welsh Labour Assembly Members by a large margin: 37 for and 16 against. 

Despite the cross party backing, the Welsh Government has yet to take action. Labour’s economy minister Edwina Hart, who backed the Plaid motion calling for a moratorium, has turned down calls for planning advice on fracking to be updated.

But insiders have indicated that the First Minster, Carwyn Jones, is currently seeking legal advice on what powers the Welsh Government has to effectively place a moratorium on fracking.

The UK Government currently has control over shale gas licensing but the Welsh Government has responsibility, in theory, for any related planning applications. But any appeals against refusals are judged by the London-based Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.

And as IGas helpfully points out, these devolved planning powers render the Welsh Government helpless in protecting Welsh communities against any unwanted developments.

IGas: ‘we’re going ahead anyway’

The original IGas application to carry out test drilling at a site in Borras, near Wrexham was rejected by the democratically elected councillors on the local authority. The company then appealed against the decision, which went to the Westminster-controlled Planning Inspectorate, which overturned the earlier refusal.

An IGas spokesman told the Daily Post: “Nothing has changed in our plans to test drill for underground gas in Wrexham, which we will be continuing with.

“And if we were to put in a planning application in the future, which is rejected by Wrexham council, the appeal would go to the Welsh Secretary, which comes under Westminster, not the Welsh Government.

“The decision by the Welsh Government was not a moratorium. They can refuse applications on planning grounds, but they have no power to stop fracking.”

As Sion Chavez, editor of Daily Wales, points out, “It’s a situation which highlights the absurd consequences of having one country administered by a neighbouring country.”

“Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own completely separate Planning Inspectorates which allow their own governments to oversee any appeals. But in the case of Wales, it’s the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales.”

The SNP controlled Scottish Government has recently used its control over planning to announce an immediate moratorium on all fracking applications.

Welsh Government must be firm

Gareth Clubb, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, commented: “As soon as this legal advice is available, it needs to be published so that all the people of Wales can know where we stand on this problem.

“If a moratorium is within the Welsh Government’s powers then it just needs to get on and make it happen. If a ban isn’t possible, two things need to happen straight away. The first is that any powers restricting Wales’ ability to protect its communities should be devolved immediately.

“The second is that until those powers are devolved the Welsh Government must issue a Planning Policy Statement with a presumption against the development of unconventional oil and gas onshore in Wales.

“Anything other than these steps will suggest that the Welsh Government was being duplicitous through voting in favour of doing everything in its power to prevent fracking in Wales, but failing to take the action needed to deliver on its promise.”

Among other clauses, the successful motion calling for a fracking moratorium “Believes that energy should be fully devolved to the National Assembly for Wales and that the Welsh Government should have the power to block fracking.”

It further “Calls on the Welsh Government to do everything within its power to prevent fracking from taking place in Wales until it is proven to be safe in both an environmental and public health context.”

Principal source:  original articles published by Daily Wales.

Last week a lobster fishery in the Kattegat, the area of sea between northern Denmark and Sweden, is the proud recipient of a ‘sustainable fishing’ certificate through the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

But only four months ago Citizen Inspectors of The Black Fish (TBF) – an Amsterdam-based environmental group dedicated to preventing illegal overfishing in European seas – observed fishermen illegally targetting protected cod stocks in the exact same fishery – and has the photographic and video evidence to prove it.

But the MSC has decided to disregard the evidence of illegal activity, prompting Wietse van der Werf, TBF’s International Director, to comment:

“Sustainability labels mean very little if certifiers are not digging deeper to find out what is really happening in fisheries. Surprise inspections and undercover investigators would be a good start.”

The evidence collected by TBF’s Citizen Inspectors will not be made public, pending its use in possible legal action, adds van der Werf: “We will continue to build on our findings as with more evidence we stand a stronger case.”

Good lobster, bad cod

The ‘sustainable’ fishery targets Norwegian lobster (also known as nephrops) with trawlers. But the Kattegat also contains important spawning areas for cod, which has been heavily overfished in the area over recent decades.

So the area contains two fisheries: a sustainable lobster fishery, and a very unsustainable cod fishery. Complicating the picture, Kattegat trawlers often catch the lobster and cod together in the same net, continuing the negative impacts on the troubled fish.

To protect the cod, while allowing the lobster fishery to continue, the Swedish authorities imposed new rules requiring fishers to fit specially designed grids in their trawl nets that create openings that adult cod caught up in the net can escape through, while retaining the lobsters.

But as one as of TBF’s Citizens Inspectors explains: “During the inspections we found multiple steel grids which weren’t properly attached to the trawl nets, allowing for an opening to be created underneath the grid, so cod could be caught.

“One net even used chains as weights to open up the net further, making the fitted grid totally useless. On another occasion we observed fishers re-attaching their nets upon return to the port, presumably for the net to meet the requirements during a possible inspection by fisheries officials.”

But the lobster will continue to carry the MSC label

In spite of the evidence of illegal ‘black’ cod fishing in the Kategat, products from the nephrops fishery will now bear the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label for ‘sustainable fisheries’.

TBF notified the MSC about its findings but learned that the formal assessment period for the fisheries had already passed, so it was too late for their evidence to be taken into account.

Annual surveillance audits are carried out by the certification body but according to van der Werf, “we fear that these will yield little result in uncovering illegal activities, in part because they are publicly announced before they take place.”

By contrast, TBF’s Citizen Inspector Network carried out over 100 inspections in Swedish fishing ports last August, identifying numerous trawl nets illegally modified to prevent the cod’s escape.

Help: The Black Fish appeals to anyone who might have further information about illegal activities in the Swedish nephrop fishery to come forward. Our legal team can be contacted at legal@theblackfish.org.

Source: The Black Fish.

The Black Fish is an international organisation that works to end illegal overfishing. Our approach brings together people and the benefits of modern technology to protect the oceans through enforcement of environmental regulations. The Black Fish currently runs 28 projects in 12 countries around Europe, with an international team of 30 staff, countless volunteers and supporters around the world.